The hoardings go up

For months this project has lived in folders and phone calls. Then one cold, bright morning, the boards went up around the plot — and suddenly it was real in a way paper never quite managed.

There’s something about a hoarding. It says: something is happening here. People slow down as they pass. We slow down too, if we’re honest, and we know exactly what’s behind it.

Breaking ground on your own forever home is a strange kind of birthday. No cake, plenty of mud, and a feeling in your chest like standing at the top of a very long slide.

Here we go.